Method of and means for loading and transporting merchandise



Aug. 1, L. J. LE

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORTING MERCHANDISE Filed Feb. 23 193:5 s Sheets-Sheei'. 1

Aug. 1, 1933- SCALES 1,920,917

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORTING MERCHANDISE Filed Feb. 23, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 werazr lewzisdflaczdes Aug. 1, 1933.

| J. SCALES,

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LOADING AND TRANS PORT I NG MERCHANDISE Filed Feb. 23, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ja/ezzi [ea/1511 oules MW, 6 Q7 Patented Aug. 1, 1933 NIE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORTING IWIERCHANDISE Lewis J. Scales, Gary Ind, assignor to Signode Steel Strapping Company, Chicago, 111., a Gorporation of Delaware Application February 23, 1933 Serial No. 658,104

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and means for loading and transporting merchandise.

It is especially useful and will be explained in connection with the loading and shipment in freight cars of sheet metal,particularly tin plate.

For some time the so-called shifting load method has been successfully employed for the transportation of a variety of merchandise.

10 According to this method, the merchandise elements are bound into groups or load units and, instead of attempting to effect a rigid anchorage between the merchandise and the car, these groups or load units are freely movable with respect to the car, the combined inertia and friction between the merchandise constituting a unit and the car floor being depended upon to absorb shocks and prevent undue or excessive movement. This method has decreased the cost of loading, shipment and unloading and eliminated many of the difliculties and disadvantages inherent in the prior methods employing bracing and other arrangements for rigidly anchoring the load to the car.

But the shifting load method utilizing the principle of freely shifting or movable groups or load units, has not been entirely satisfactory under some conditions and with some types of merchandise, for example where a haul is predominantly up or down grade and in connection with some varieties of sheet material such as tin plate. Thus, if the haul or run is rather long and predominantly up or down grade, the shift of freely movable groups or units may cumulate or predominate in one direction (1. e., toward one end or the other of a car), with the result that the load, which initially was distributed or more or less equalized upon both trucks or sets of wheels, may become objectionably concentrated toward one end and thus unequally distributed upon the car trucks and possibly cause damage to the end of the car and the load. Or the load, which initially was equally distributed adjacent the ends of the car, while not shifting far enough to cause such objectionable concentration toward one end, as above described, may shift far enough to block the doorways and thereby increase the difiiculties and expense of unloading.

Another difiiculty heretofore experienced, particularly in connection with relatively delicate, expensive and slippery material, such as tin plateis that the sheets constituting a stack or pile and forming a sub-unit or sub-group of the load shift relative to each other during transit. The result of this internal shifting or relative movement between constituents of a stack is that the thin film or coating of tin over the black sheet iron base of the tin plate sheets becomes worn through, exposing the black underlying metal and rendering the sheets not only unsightly but unfit for being made into containers for food products.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved method and means for facilitating the loading and transportation of merchandise,particularly such as tin plate and other sheet material.

Another object is to provide a method and means for controlling the amount of shifting or movement of merchandise packages or groups transported by the shifting load method.

Another object is to provide a method and means whereby the shifting of. a load of merchandise packages, such as stacks of tin plate sheets, may be controlled to permit adequate movement to absorb the shocks encountered during transit to a sufficient extent to relieve the packages or stacks from undue strain and thereby eliminate or lessen the tendency for internal shifting and yet prevent excessive shifting.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

According to this new method a braking or movement controlling effect is exerted upon one or more of the binders which encircle and serve to bind together a group of merchandise elements or packages into a load unit. In its preferred embodiment the invention comprehends a group of packagessuch as individually skidded piles or stacks of tin plate sheets-bound tightly together by tensioned flexible metallic binders (at least one of which encircles the group longitudinally or in the direction of car movement), so that the group constitutes, in effect, a single load unit and one or more braking devices, which are anchored against movement relative to the car, and act as snubs or checks upon one or more of the longitudinal binders to retard the movement under the shocks and jars incident to travel of the group or load unit encircled thereby.

A typical example of the improved method and equipment as applied to the shipment of tin plate is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective sectional view of one end of a box freight car with a load unit of tin plate stacks or packages arranged therein according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the braking or movement controlling ef- 110 feet being applied only at the bottom of the unit;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the individual packages of stacked sheets;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective of a preferred form of unit braking or movement controlling device;

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through part of a unit, illustrating one method for applying the braking or movement controlling effect at the top of a load unit; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view of a different arrangement for applying the braking effect at the top of a load unit.

The load unit selected for the explanation and an illustrative embodiment of the invention, consists of eighteen packages arranged in six transverse rows of three packages each. Referring particularly to Fig. 3, each package comprises a pile or stack 10 of tin plate sheets disposed flatwise upon and supported by a skid, consisting of a platform 11 and a set of runners 12 secured to the platform. Preferably the platform and runners are of wood; a thickness of platform of about one inch and a height and width of runners of about two and one-half inches and two inches, respectively, having been found to give good results. The boards constituting the platform may be secured to the runners by nails or other appropriate means. To afford the best results, the size of the platform should be substantially the same as the size of the sheets to be stacked thereon. The runners support the platform high enough off the floor to enable the usual types of handling equipment, such as a lift truck, readily to be applied to the composite package to lift and carry it. The number of sheets constituting a suitable stack will depend upon conditions, such as the size and gauge of the sheets, the character of the haul, the strength of the binder material available or which it is desired to use, and the character and capacity of the handling equipment employed. After the desired number of sheets are piled upon the skid, the stack and skid are bound together to constitute a unitary package. In the package chosen for illustration, the binder consists of two tensioned flexible metallic straps 13 which are looped about the platform and stack, tightened to the requisite degree and their overlapping ends secured together by a suitable seal-joint 14 to render the loop permanent. In order to protect the sheets from injury by these tensioned binders, a protective strip 15 of suitable material, such as wood or fiber, may be interposed between the sheet edges and the binder, metal corners 16 may be employed and the top of the stack may be covered with a sheet 1'7 of cardboard or other suitable material. Experience has shown that, for example, sheets of size 20 X 28" piled to a height of approximately fourteen inches can be satisfactorily bound to a skid by two A." X .020" cold rolled steel bands. A package thus formed has an overall height of approximately 17 inches, and a weight of about 2200 pounds. Such a package may be readily manipulated by ordinary handling equipment and is satisfactorily stable when frictionally related to the car, as will be hereinafter described.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, eighteen such packages are shown grouped adjacent one end of a box car and securely bound together to form a load unit. Of course, the usual procedure of forming a satisfactory carload would entail the assembly and placement of a like load unit adjacent the other end of the car. To facilitate loading and unloading, it is generally the better practice to make the load units or unitary assemblages of packages short enough to leave the space between the car doorways entirely unoccupied.

These unitary assemblages or load units may be formed in a variety of ways. To a large extent the character of the individual packages and the constituents thereof will govern the particular type and detail formation of the load unit. The type now to be described has been found to be very satisfactory for skid packages of tin plate sheets. Each load unit includes two end bulkheads 20, one at each end. Each bulkhead comprises two parallel horizontal buttresses 21 and 22, and a number of upright spacer and reenforcing cleats 23 and upright spacer and supporting cleats or posts 24. The buttresses and cleats forming each bulkhead are fastened together by suitable means, such as nails or screws 25. Buttresses and cleats formed from wood, the former of 2 x 6" and the latter of 1" x 6" pieces, have given good results. The length of the buttresses are almost the internal width of the car, so that, by the ends engaging opposite car walls, lateral movements and skewing of the units will be prevented. The separation between the buttresses is such that the vertical distance between the top and bottom edges of the bulkhead is approximately equal to the height of the stack of sheets plus the thickness of the skid platform. The length of cleats 23 is approximately equal to the distance between the upper edge of top buttress 21 and the lower edge of bottom buttress 22. The post cleats 24 are enough longer to extend some distance below the lower buttress 22 to support that buttress above the floor. Such a relationship is to be preferred because the packages of a unit can be more securely bound together, the stacks of sheets reenforcing and stiffening the buttresses and cleats, and the buttresses and cleats shielding the top outer corners of the end stacks against the pull of the tensioned unit binders to be now described.

Looped longitudinally about the entire load unit and its two end bulkheads are unit-binders 30, each composed of a flexible metallic steel strap which, after being positioned, is tensioned and has its overlapping ends joined by a suitable seal-joint to render the loop permanent. The number and size of these looped unit-binders may be such as will most satisfactorily hold together the constituent elements or packages constituting a load unit of the desired size and character. For a load such as hereinbefore described, two longitudinal unit-binders, each of 2" X .050" steel band of a tensile strength of about 11,000 pounds, has been found to be adequate and very satisfactory.

Lateral binders 31 may be employed to increase the rigidity and maintain the stability of the load unit. Three such lateral binders, each of X .035 steel strap has been found to be satisfactory. Preferably these lateral binders are looped about the unit in planes between alternate pairs of packages as shown in Fig. 1, protective strips 32 of wood lying between the straps and the edges of the stacked sheets. Protective strips 1" X 4" and substantially as long as the height of the stacks are satisfactory for this purpose.

In order to regulate or control the movement of the load unit under the shifting influence of shocks and jars of transit, a braking effect is applied to one or more of the longitudinal unit-binders 30. This effect is produced by providing one or more braking elements, which are fixed relative to the car, to cooperate with the longitudinal binder or binders, and retard the movement thereof relative to the car. Of course, the retardation of the movement of a binder also retards the movement of the load unit encircled thereby. The preferred form of braking element, which is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5, consists of a metal plate 35 having a slot 36 through which the binder 30 may be threaded. The plate is provided with holes 3'7 through which screws or nails may be driven into the floorboards of a car to anchor the plate securely thereto. In order that the plate may be tightly and evenly applied to a floor along both sides and still permit the binder to lie therebeneath, it is preferably provided with a binder channel 38 extending from slot 36 to the rear edge thereof. With the cooperating unitbinder threaded therethrough, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, the plate is securely attached to and flat upon the car floor, so that it can have no movement relative thereto. The binder, however, is not attached, but, except for the frictional resistance of the plate thereon, more or less of a tendency to pull the unit tightly against the car floor and particularly the snubbing or gripping action resulting from the rather sharp or abrupt turns or offset of the binder as it threads through the plate, it is movable under the influence of shocks and jars, tending to move the load unit. The snubbing or clutching action between the plate and the binder will depend upon the stiffness of the binder, the size and character of the opening through which the binder is threaded (controlling the angles or curves the binder has to assume), and the frictional characteristics of the binder and plate. Generally speaking, the more abrupt or sharp the angles or curves in the binder, the greater will be the retardation of its movement relative to the plate, and the more will shifting of the load unit be arrested. The pull exerted by a snubber plate upon the unit-binder toward the car floor also influences the braking effect upon the load unit, and this influence can be varied by making the lower reach of the unit binder, throughout its length, more or less parallel to the car floor. The more nearly the unit binder lies parallel, throughout its length, to the car floor, the smaller is the effect of this pull thereon; whereas the more acutely the lower reach of the longitudinal binder approaches the snubber plate from the lower corners of a unit the greater is this pull of the binder upon the unit toward the car floor,-particularly as a unit may shift during transit to bring an end thereof closer to the snubber plate. The ideal condition is attained when the retardation upon the shifting of a load unit so fully and gradually absorbs or cushions the shocks and jars incident to normal transit conditions, that excessive shifting is avoided and yet the tendency of the load to become distorted (i. e., internal shifting between sheets constituting a package), is eliminated or reduced to limits which can be safely and satisfactorily resisted by the encircling binders. Thus, for example, the number of snubbing plates to be applied to each longitudinal unitbinder will depend upon the maximum shifting permissible and the character of the merchandise elements constituting the load. Packages of tin plate sheets, such as hereinbefore described, have been very satisfactorily transported when only two snubbing plates, one for each longitudinal unit-binder, have been employed. These plates were located about two feet from the end of the load unit next to the end of the car. Of course, should conditions require, snubbing plates may be located adjacent the opposite end of the load unit also, as indicated in Fig. 1, and even intermediate snubbing plates may be used if desired or conditions seem to require.

In order to facilitate the removal thereof, the snubber plates may be provided with relieved portion 39 to make it easier to wedge a crowbar thereunder.

In loading a car with packages of tin plate sheets, such as hereinbefore described, the desired number of snubber plates are threaded upon each longitudinal unit-binder and these binders, cut to the requisite length properly to encircle the load unit, are laid upon the car floor. Then the snubber plates are secured to the car floor. The rear bulkhead is put in position, preferably by standing it against the end wall of the car. Now the skidded packages constituting the load unit are moved into position in the car over the longitudinal binders which lie on the floor over the space to be occupied. The cross binders, cut to the necessary length to encircle the unit laterally, may also be laid upon the floor before the load is positioned or, because they are not secured to the car floor, they may be positioned as the loading proceeds or after all of the packages constituting a load unit have been placed. After all of the packages constituting a load unit have been assembled in the space to be occupied thereby, the forward bulkhead is applied and the binders are looped about the unit, tensioned, and the overlapping ends of the looped binders joined. The load is easily prepared for unloading because all it is necessary to do is to cut the longitudinal and transverse unit-binders and remove the front bulkheads. The skidded packages can then be removed by lift-trucks or other appropriate handling equipment.

Ordinarily, it will be necessary to provide binder snubbers only at the bottoms of load units. However, should conditons require or make it desirable so to do, snubbers may be applied to the upper reach of a longitudinal unit-binder to afford a movement controlling or snubbing action at the top of a unit.

Figs. 6 and 7 show two arrangements for thus snubbing or controlling the movements of a load unit by applying a retarding or braking action upon the top reach of a binder.

In Fig. 6 a beam 40 transversely bridging the top of the load unit is rigidly anchored to the car in any suitable manner, such as by nailing it at the ends to the car sidewalls. A snubbing plate 35', which may be similar to the plate previously described, is secured to the under side of beam 40. The upper reach of longitudinal binder 30 is threaded through the slot in the snubbing plate as before. Thus the upper reach as well as, or instead of, the lower reach may be retarded from movement under the shocks and jars of transit.

Fig. 7 shows another method of snubbing the upper reach of a longitudinal binder. In this arrangement the snubber plate 35" is provided with two slots; one, 36", for the threading of the longitudinal binder therethrough to provide the snubbing or braking effect thereon, and another, 41, for receiving a plate anchoring strap 42. One end of this anchoring strap is looped through slot 41 and then fastened by a joint 43 to the body thereof. The other end of the anchoring strap is secured firmly to the end wall of the car by nails, or other appropriate means. The snubbing or braking action of such a plate is, for one direction of movement, similar to that of the snubbing plates heretofore described. Movement in the other direction may be retarded by a similar plate or plates anchored in like manner to the opposite end of the car.

Although the load unit heretofore described has been considered as comprising a plurality of individual packages-specifically skidded stacks of sheet metal-bound tightly together to constitute, in effect, a unitary group, it is to be understood that such unit may comprise a single element, such, for example, as a box or packing case or a piece of heavy machinery. Such an element may be associated with a longitudinal binder or member at some convenient location, and a breaking or movement controlling efiect applied thereto by one or more snubbers in the same manner as hereinbefore explained.

Having thus illustrated and described the nature and several typical examples of my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. The method of transporting merchandise in a vehicle which consists in binding together as a unit by a flexible metallic binder a group of merchandise elements resting on the floor of the vehicle, and applying a braking effect to the binder to control the shifting on the vehicle floor of the load group encircled thereby.

2. The method of transporting merchandise in a vehicle which consists in binding together as a unit by a flexible metallic encircling binder a group of merchandise elements supported on the floor of the vehicle, and snubbing the encircling binder to retard the movements thereof and thereby control the shifting of the load from the effects of shocks and jars incident to transit.

3. The method of preparing merchandise packages for shipment in a railway car, which consists in looping a group of the packages with a longitudinally disposed tensioned flexible metallic binder to bind the packages of the group into a load unit, and snubbing in relation to a car Wall a horizontally disposed reach of the binder to retard the horizontal movement thereof relative to the car.

4. A load of packages for transport in a vehicle comprising a plurality of merchandise packages assembled into a group, a longitudinally disposed flexible metallic binder looped and tensioned about the group of packages to assist in constituting the same a unitary load-unit, and means attached immovably to the vehicle and snubbing a horizontal reach of the binder to retard the horizontal movement of the binder and consequently of the load-unit relative to the car.

5. A load of packages for transport in a vehicle comprising a plurality of merchandise packages assembled into a group, a longitudinally disposed flexible metallic binder looped and tensioned about the group of packages to assist in constituting the same a unitary load unit, and a snubbing plate attached immovably to the car and having an opening therethrough, through which a horizontal reach of the binder is passed from one side of the plate to the other side thereof to provide a grip upon the binder to retard its horizontal movement relative to the car.

6. A load of packages for transport in a railway car comprising a group of merchandise packages, a longitudinally disposed tensioned flexible metallic binder encircling the group of packages to assist in constituting the same a unitary loadunit, and a slotted metallic snubber plate rigidly attached to the car floor, the lower horizontal reach of the binder being threaded through the slot in the snubber plate to provide a grip thereon to retard its horizontal movement.

'7. A load of packages for shipment in a vehicle comprising a plurality of merchandise packages assembled into a group, a longitudinally disposed flexible metallic binder looped and tensioned about the group of packages to assist in constituting the same a unitary load unit, and means secured immovably relative to the vehicle and relative to which the flexible binder is movable, said means providing a cooperative offset in the binder which resists the relative movement thereof.

LEWIS J. SCALES. 

